Monday, December 8, 2014

WISGOP: John Doe Must Die!

As we all know, Scott Walker has been the subject of not just one, but two, John Doe investigations.

The first John Doe, commonly known as Walkergate, was brought on by Walker's stonewalling of an investigation that his office had asked for.  This investigation ended up with the convictions of six of Walker's top aides and allies.  What is often overlooked is that there were also more than a score of people that were granted immunity in exchange for their cooperation.

Another thing that came out of the first investigation was the fact that even greater crimes were being committed by Walker and his associates, leading to the second John Doe investigation.  We could see by the documents released by the courts as the right wing have fought for the past year to kill John Doe that Walker and his campaign were not only running another caucus-like scandal, but were collaborating with third parties funded by dark money special interests.

Now Republican legislators - undoubtedly at the bidding of Walker and the dark money special interests - want to eviscerate the John Doe process:
[State Rep. David] Craig [R-Town of Vernon] said he does not have any specific changes in mind yet, but he wants more safeguards to ensure that targets’ identities are protected until and unless they’re charged. At the same time, Craig said lawmakers and the public should be able to find out how much such investigations cost.

“I think we are talking about a serious reform of the statute but maintaining it as a serious tool for district attorneys and law enforcement in general,” he said. “I think that there’s a way to protect people’s identities while it’s going on while also protecting prosecutors’ tools but also have a level of transparency.”

Craig said he also is exploring whether there should be limits to the duration and scope of John Does. The investigation targeting Walker’s campaign and associates when he was the executive of Milwaukee County was launched by Democratic Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm in 2010 and did not conclude until 2013.
The fact that WISGOP wants to stop John Doe should surprise no one. They've been talking about it for as long as they have been fighting it in court.

Besides, it makes intuitive sense that they would want to do this - all criminals wish that law enforcement would be greatly limited if not ended altogether.

8 comments:

  1. For starters to the good Rep Craig, (I do doubt he reads here) you might consider prosecuting individuals under the current law, who have ignored the exisitng confidentiality stipulations. Eric O'Keefe of the Club for Growth comes to mind. Protect people's identities but you haven't thought of enforcing what is already on the books? IOKIYAR? Contempt charges ring a bell?

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  2. No doubt Scooter wants this nagging little loose end disposed of before he makes his run for POTUS.

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    1. Ah yes! The priority ONE on the JOB creation list for WI's biggest cheese.

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  3. Pay to play will still be illegal, no matter what happens to the John Doe.

    Perhaps the Feds will intervene.

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  4. Since the majority of prosecutions brought with information from NSA spying are criminal rather than terror cases, there is no reason the Feds can't put walker and friends away-the secret email router is no secret to the NSA. In fact they can turn on walker's I phone anytime they want and listen to his conspiracies as they are hatched, in real time. But they don't, do they?

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  5. Sheesh you losers, 4 years of investigating our Governor and still a partisan hack da still can't find anything. But the innocent black children keep drying in Milwaukee and a certain DA does nothing. Must keep wifey happy by going after our Governor. What a joke you Dems are, no wonder you can't win any state wide elections anymore.

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    1. Oh, they found lots. That is why the Kochs and the Bradley Foundation are spending millions to try to stop the investigation.

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    2. So the top ten or so in Walker's inner circle are now all cinvicted felons but no one would talk ab out Walker and the DA found nothing?

      DO you guys ever read a paper?

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